


Sweet William

by LottieNygma



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: AU, Cannibalism, Cannibalistic Thoughts, Hannibal Lecter is a Cannibal, Isolation, Jealousy, M/M, good ol fucked up cannibal love, hannibal and will are bad at emotions, unestablished hannigram
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-19 01:54:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14864450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LottieNygma/pseuds/LottieNygma
Summary: And in the deepest darkest woods, my dreams sang songs to me.I dreamed I killed sweet William and I kissed his cold white brow,I washed his body in the lake, and I sewed his eyelids down.





	Sweet William

Hannibal lived a borderline silent life. A large redwood cabin snugly tucked at the base of a mountain never saw visitors or even travelers. He had lived here as long as he could remember- inheriting the home from his family.

The home where his mother had died, where his father had taken his own life in grief, the home where he watched his own sister wither away to a frail and listless skeleton. It was full of bittersweet memories he could never leave; a curse binding him to the cabin.

He had become a hunter once he became a hermit, mostly the elk and rabbits that infested the woods. Snares and traps littered his property in a slow spiral towards his home where the elk would gather to nibble at the sweet berries and pungent rosemary in summer. When the deer traveled up the mountains for fall and winter, he would create jerky from the excess of meat he had after the summer hunts. The winter lended itself to a local resort several miles from Hannibal's cabin- and fed his darker appetite. Tourists would go missing, assumed to be lost in the frozen lake or in the treacherous snow capped mountains. Few bodies had been found; assorted organs or limbs missing that led the police to believe there was a bear. None cared how precise and surgical all the removals had been- or how the bodies began showing up more mangled only after they released the blame on bears publicly. 

The public wasn’t hard to fool.

Fall was coming in quickly this year, the few deciduous trees in the mountains shuddering with each breeze as they rattled off their crisp red leaves to be fed back to the earth. Hannibal stood at the edge of the lake, the icy tide lapping at his ankles as if to pull him deeper into the muddy water. The sun was barely peeking over the mountains, though it wouldn't be visible for much longer as the deep storm clouds of autumn blew in. A twig snapping made him tense, throwing a tentative glance over his shoulder. In expectation an elk or fox, Hannibal had ruled out the idea of another human. Rarely did anyone come this far from the resort- especially in autumn. Much less to the lake that was frozen almost three-quarters of the year.

He smiled, raising his hand in a small wave. “Good morning.” he called, and the other man raised his own hand just as tentatively as Hannibal had looked to him. “Morning.” he replied briefly, and went silent as he approached the lakes edge. Hannibal closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, hyperosmia at work once more. The stranger smelled of dogs, almost overwhelming the cheap aftershave and oaky scent. There were no oaks here- only maple and elm.

“Are you visiting?” He called, and the stranger jumped.

“N- No. I live here.”

Hannibal looked surprised. He wasn't aware there had been property for sale near him.

“Where?”

“Just across the lake. You live here?”

“My whole life.” Hannibal gestured to the thin trail leading to his cabin at the base of Mount Baltimore.

There was no response, and the stranger once more turned his attention to the center of the lake. Hannibal approached him, shoal and pebbles crunching under his feet as they gently prickled the bare skin.

“Hannibal.”

“What?”

“My name is Hannibal Lecter.” He smiled. The stranger stared at him before his eyes widened and his face flushed with embarrassment.

“Graham, Will... Graham, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself; I've been very busy learning the area and I'm a fisherman so-” he cut himself off, eyes darting anywhere but Hannibal's face.

“Sorry.” he said weakly, and turned before Hannibal caught his arm. “Don't be. We all get carried away.”

He could almost taste the unease on Will at the touch, and dropped his hand back to his side. “Catch what you can before October. The ice freezes deep here.” With that he turned, feeling Will's eyes on his back. He knelt and scooped up the boots he had discarded with an impossible grace as he returned to his cabin.

Will was beautiful. Soft but guarded eyes, a strong jawline. His hair and beard were unruly, but as often as that look had left him in distaste, Will wore it comfortably and well. Hannibal licked his lips, closing his eyes and recalling the scent as he hovered over the fresh veal he was carving for that night's dinner. He could drown in it, the rich oak a new taste he craved above anything or anyone he had ever made.

Will Graham would taste wonderful.

\--- --- --- ---

After several hours of busying himself in the kitchen, Hannibal ate much more quickly than he typically did. The sun was finally sinking below the mountain ridge across the lake, and he wanted to reach the others home before the sun fully set. He slipped on one of his less heavy jackets and tucked the bundle of food safely under his arm. Hannibal had chosen a plain honey glazed veal flank to make for Will- simple yet rich and sweet in flavor. He wondered if Will would taste similar.

After a long trek through the woods, he reached what he assumed Will's property to be- one of the only buildings for at least twenty miles besides the resort. He arrived as the sun finally dipped below the ridge, casting a quickly fading blood red glow on the forest. Fitting, Hannibal thought as he approached the small cabin.

There was a sudden din of barking and howls, and a desperate cry of _'for fucks sake what now?'_ that made Hannibal smile. He rapped his knuckles sharply on the heavy oak door (maybe that's where the smell was from) and waited patiently. There was a thump and a sharp bark, and the door knob was rattled before finally opened.

Will peeked through, along with a comedic stack of dog's faces at knee height. “Oh. Hi.”

“Hello, Will.”

“How did you know where I live?” Will's voice was clearly suspicious and strained, leaving Hannibal to wonder how he could have roughed his throat in the single day he had been here.

“We are the only people here for miles.”

“Oh.” He flushed with embarrassment over his paranoid reply.

“May I come in?”

Hannibal resisted the urge to smile once more when Will squinted suspiciously. The man eventually pushed all his dogs back and held the door open for Hannibal to step in. Immediately there was yapping and jumping from the animals, sniffing excitedly at the parcel in Hannibal's hands. “Honey veal. A welcoming gift.” He passed it to Will, whose eyes grew wide. _“Veal?”_

“I caught the deer myself. Be careful letting your dogs out- there are traps for animals on my property.” Hannibal shrugged off his coat and held it over his arm, noticing the look of alarm on Will's face.

“Nothing like bear traps I assure you. However, I don't think they would enjoy being caught in a snare or net.” The blond knelt and rubbed behind one of the dog's ears as the others sniffed him over.

“Yeah…” Will trailed off with furrowed brows. “That’s Winston. He’s not… usually that friendly.”

“I am very good with animals, despite my profession.” Hannibal smiled warmly up at him. “What are the rest of their names?”

“Uh… well, that’s Winston.” he repeated, “This one’s Charley,” He gestured to the oldest dog that was sitting lazily at Will’s feet. “Red mutt is Killian, Jack Russell is Cambridge, and the setter is Jacobi. The ladies- cocker mix is Laurelei, brown mutt is Josie, Borzoi is Minnie.” he listed with a small smile, gazing over the dogs with an unbelievable amount of affection.

“Quite a family you have-” he began, cut off by the call of “Dad?” from upstairs. He raised a brow at Will and stood up as Will’s smile dropped. “Down here Abi. We uh, have a guest!” 

“Who the hell lives out here? Did you find another dog? I swear to god dad, only you...” came a laughing response as a girl around nineteen or so came down the worn oak stairs and her almost translucent skin paled when she saw Hannibal. “Oh. Oh my god you weren’t joking. Hi, I’m so sorry. I’m Abigail. Graham.” she stuck out a hand awkwardly and Hannibal shook it gently with a small smile. 

“Hannibal Lecter. And don’t worry. I was equally surprised to see your father had moved here as well.” 

“Yeah. He likes the whole isolation thing.” Abigail nudged Will in the ribs with an elbow. _Don’t bruise the meat,_ Hannibal thinks. “I won’t be around a whole lot, I just came to help him move in.” She turned to Will. “Where’s the kitchen boxes?” 

“In the _kitchen?_ ” Will tried, clearly biting back a sarcastic tone.

“I’d recommend you unpack plates.” Hannibal held the box of meat and vegetables out to them. 

“Oh my god, you made us dinner? That’s so nice of you!” Abigail beamed. She took the box, trotting off towards the kitchen. 

“She’s lovely.” Hannibal said, glancing back to Will. 

“A handful.” Will grumbled, but Hannibal could hear the affection in his tone. 

“Are you divorced?” 

Will blinked, clearly caught off guard before the surprised expression turned into a hard stare. “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“Oh. Of course, I apologize. I haven’t spoken to people very often out here I often forget social courtesies.” Hannibal tried his best to sound genuine, and gave a small sigh. “I’ll be heading out then, the temperatures after dark are frightful.” 

Will balked, eyes darting around. “Um, thank you again for the food. It was very kind of you.” He voice was thick, clearly feeling awkward about how he had snapped. 

“It was my pleasure, Will.” Hannibal said, giving him a wolfish smile before turning to the door and leaving.

“Sooo... “ Abigail said. “He’s cute.”

“What?!” 

“He’s totally your type dad. And you know it.” she added the last part in an accusatory tone. 

“You’re ridiculous. Besides I don’t… have a _type._ ”

“You’re ridiculous,” Abi mimicked in a high pitched tone. “And redder than a rose, old man.”

Will put a hand on his cheek, feeling it was warm. “I just didn’t expect him to ask about Margot.” He said, grasping at excuses. What had happened with her was entirely an accident on both their parts and he had long since gotten over it. 

“You’re such a disaster bi.”

“A what?”

“It’s... nevermind, it’s an internet thing.” she waved her hand. “Lets see if he can cook, I don’t want another dad who can’t cook.”

_“Abigail!”_

**Author's Note:**

> yeets myself into a river  
> ive been trying to write this for a while and I'm finally doing it  
> Check out my tumblr @voorheese


End file.
